Once upon a time there was the greatest love story. It happened a long time ago in a far-off beautiful land of precious gemstones, tigers, elephants and a Mughal King named Shah Jahan. Now if you are Shah Jahan you are the ruler of a great land in what we now call India. Emedia keyboard software. The Story of the Taj Mahal. The Taj Mahal was built by a Mongul emperor named Sahah Jahan, for his wife Mumtaz. Return to main India Picture Page. The Taj Mahal is a beautiful white marble mausoleum in the city of Agra, India.It is widely considered to be one of the greatest architectural masterpieces in the world and is listed as one of the New Seven Wonders of the World. The Story of Emperor Shah Jahan and his beloved wife Mumtaz Mahal is one story which has stood the test of time in the pages of History and the daily life of humanity in the form of Taj Mahal since it was established in 1631. Taj Mahal is not just one of the most famous India landmarks. It is a rare monument, which needs to be seen and also to be felt. This is a story of love artistically preserved in stone, and it affects everyone who sees it. If you are Shah Jahan you are the fifth King in a line of great rulers of the Mughal dynasty, with a spectacular palace fort in what is now called Agra. As ruler of this empire, you have the world on a platter, food and comforts at your disposal, as well as courtesans and as many wives as you might want. You believe you have everything you need, until one day, as you are walking through the Meena Bazaar you spy a beautiful girl selling silks and glass beads. You are only 14 years old but you are smitten and you want this girl for your wife. She is called Arjumand Banu and is a Persian Muslim Princess. And she will be your wife, five years later when you come of age. You will name her Mamtaz Majal, which means “Jewel of the Palace” and you are madly in love. She is your favorite wife and you lavish her with anything she can possibly desire. You love her not only for her exquisite beauty but her intelligence, management skill and humor. You love her often, and she bears you 14 children. But your world will come crashing down when Mamtaz Majal dies after giving birth to your 14th child. On her death-bed you promise her you will never remarry and you will build a monument in her memory. You will mourn your beloved for two years and then undertake the most ambitious and remarkable construction project of its kind to date and you will spend the next 22 years building the grand Taj Mahal “Crown of the Palace”. The white marble mausoleum, still so stunning nearly 400 years later continues to bear witness to your great love as one of the Seven Wonders of the World. In the mausoleum your one true love Mamtaz Mahal will lie, and you will join her many years later. But only after spending the last few years of your life imprisoned in your own palace by your own son. After spending more than 32 million rupees (one billion dollars) to build the Taj Mahal your son imprisons you when you begin construction on a similar mausoleum for your own tomb, just across the river where you can spend eternity next to your beloved wife. But your dream of another mausoleum will never come to fruition. You will die, broken-hearted and be laid to rest next to your one true love inside the Taj Mahal. The greatest love story. The story of the Taj Mahal. Pictures Of Taj Mahal IndiaThe origin of the name 'Taj Mahal' is not clear. Court histories from Shah Jehan's reign only call it the rauza (tomb) of Mumtaz Mahal. It is generally believed that 'Taj Mahal' (usually translated as either 'Crown Palace' or 'Crown of the Palace') is an abbreviated version of her name, Mumtaz Mahal. The construction of this marble masterpiece is credited to the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan who erected this mausoleum in the memory of his beloved wife, Arjumand Bano Begum, popularly known as Mumtaz Mahal, who died in AH 1040 (AD 1630). Her last wish to her husband was 'to build a tomb in her memory such as the world had never seen before'. Thus emperor Shah Jahan set about building this fairytale like marvel. The construction of Taj Mahal was started in AD 1631 and completed at the end of 1648 AD. For seventeen years, twenty thousand workmen are said to be employed on it daily, for their accommodation a small town, named after the deceased empress-'Mumtazabad, now known as Taj Ganj, was built adjacent to it. Amanat Khan Shirazi was the calligrapher of Taj Mahal, his name occurs at the end of an inscription on one of the gates of the Taj. Poet Ghyasuddin had designed the verses on the tombstone, while Ismail Khan Afridi of Turkey was the dome maker. Muhammad Hanif was the superintendent of Masons. The designer of Taj Mahal was Ustad Ahmad Lahauri. The material was brought in from all over India and central Asia and it took a fleet of 1000 elephants to transport it to the site. The central dome is 187 feet high at the centre. Red sandstone was brought from Fatehpur Sikri, Jasper from Punjab, Jade and Crystal from China, Turquoise from Tibet, Lapis Lazuli and Sapphire from Sri Lanka, Coal and Cornelian from Arabia and diamonds from Panna. In all 28 kind of rare, semi precious and precious stones were used for inlay work in the Taj Mahal. Taj Mahal India InformationThe chief building material, the white marble was brought from the quarries of Makrana, in distt. Nagaur, Rajasthan. ' The interior of the building is dimly lit through pierced marble lattices and contains a virtuoso display of carved marble. Externally the building gains an ethereal quality from its marble facings, which respond with extraordinary subtlety to changing light and weather.' ____________________ Sir Banister Fletcher. A History of Architecture. P624, 630 The battle of Panipat laid the foundation of the Mughal dynasty in Agra. The loss of the Afghan Ruler, Sikandar Lodhi became the turning point that piloted the nation’s forays into the world of architectural majesty. Taj Mahal India History In UrduGlobally renowned as the city of the Taj Mahal, this royal Mughal city has many other monuments too that emphasise the high point of Mughal architecture. The founder of the Mughal dynasty, Babur, laid out the first formal Persian garden on the banks of the river Yamuna.
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